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Confirmed with Link: Weekesbomb: Palat to NJ for five-year deal

I could see Palat aging similarly to how Zajac did. He's going to slow down, but he's not a guy who is overly reliant on speed to begin with. He's still going to be able to use his body to win battles along the boards, and he's smart enough to find ways to still be effective even as the feet and hands start to go away. This is assuming of course he stays relatively healthy and doesn't have injuries that start to pile up. But that's a concern for any player as they age.
 
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Well, I'm just glad we have a Czech. We can't go too long without one.

NJDevilsFan21 said:
I really hate this contract. I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is going to be a black hole of cap space that's the difference between us being a contender and a bubble team in 3 years. As in, we could have put that money to better use, like a younger Gaudreau at $9.5M... Sigh.

The term is 1-2 years too long, imo. Whatever, it's done and I hope it works out.
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Gaudreau didn't want to be here, so was never an option.
 
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Classic Devil said:
For some reason this is giving me Zubrus flashbacks. Not sure why.
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I had the same thought, but then I looked up Palat's size and he's much smaller than Zubrus, so I didn't think the comparison would be well taken.

But I think there is something to it, because they're very similar players. Versatile, physical, can credibly slot in on any line, defensively sound, doesn't always show up on the scoresheet but clears space and wins pucks for his linemates, and chips in clutch goals every now and then.

We ended up mostly liking Zubrus even though his contract initially looked like overpayment, and I'm hoping the same will happen with Palat.
 
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CanadianMooseBuckler said:
I almost always enjoy your posts, but you're way off the mark itt.

This team needed Haula, Vanacek, and Palat types as all 3 have been a part of competitive and/or winning cultures for their entire careers and improve positions that were lacking.

It's not as if Fitz is Lou going out and signing 126 year old Greene's and Chara's.

It's been stated 50 times here, cap up, other teams willing to absorb it for a pick and retained salary? It'll be fine if it even gets to that point.
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I don't know, I think I'm just too disappointed. I was seriously high after they won the draft lottery, and the disappointment of what we did with the pick followed by this contract threw me for a pretty good loop.

I was excited for the team but not anymore. I feel like we're going to be the Canucks. A few really good young players, and GM that just wrecks it with awful contracts. But obviously most in this thread don't feel that way, and I shouldn't ruin it for anyone that's happy.

I'm happy with Vanacek and Haula by the way. Fine with Smith too. And I like Palat, just not the contract.

Guttersniped said:
Again, I don’t agree.

It’s not just about value. You want value deals but that’s not the only consideration because sometimes you want a player who isn’t going to be on contracts that aren’t on the best contracts.

Marchment almost signed with Hurricanes until the Stars stole him away. You think Fitz could have jumped in there? I wouldn’t have significantly out bid the Stars’ 4 year/4.5m offer. There’s a lot of risk there. (Also Marchment’s terrible skating has a lot of potential to cause injury and has in the past.)

And the Tatar signing wasn’t a bad signing, we needed a stopgap scoring forward who could provide production. He was a guy we could sign (after bigger forwards turned Fitz down) who wouldn’t effect our cap longterm. Just because he didn’t produce as much as hoped… that happens.

I’m not happy about some other stuff right now but this is the Palat thread and I don’t want to get too off-topic.
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To me the Devils are still building, they're not there yet. And in that situation every move to should maximize value. Once you get to where Tampa was in 2020, it's fine to trade a bunch of first round picks for Blake Coleman and Brandon Hagel. You're going for it, you need certain players at a certain price and you need them right away.

I just don't feel like the Devils are in that position.

I don't actually want Marchment at that price, I was just trying to point out that, yes $4.5 million is in fact consequential.

Devilsgrl35 said:
This person clearly either doesn't understand hockey or doesn't watch it at all. What an annoying troll.
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Mmm hmm. Not what I was going for, just genuinly frustrated, but point taken.
 
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TheUnseenHand said:
He will, quickly. l'm still not really on board with this deal, but I don't completely hate it either. There is just no doubt in my mind that it's an anchor of a contract by the 3rd year. If he can teach these kids how to win in that time, though, it will be worth it.
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If we are paying to win, can't we bring in someone like Aube-Kubel on the $1M contract he signed instead?

I agree with you, this contract will likely be bad by year 3. I could see this going similar to the Cammalleri deal where he was bought out after the first 3 years. It is a bad decision if you are signing someone who isn't worth it in year 1 and is signed long-term.
 
MadDevil said:
I could see Palat aging similarly to how Zajac did. He's going to slow down, but he's not a guy who is overly reliant on speed to begin with. He's still going to be able to use his body to win battles along the boards, and he's smart enough to find ways to still be effective even as the feet and hands start to go away. This is assuming of course he stays relatively healthy and doesn't have injuries that start to pile up. But that's a concern for any player as they age.
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Zajac didn't have the same miles on him with the playoff runs or play a physical style either. They aren't good comparable IMO.
 
RSeen said:
If we are paying to win, can't we bring in someone like Aube-Kubel on the $1M contract he signed instead?

I agree with you, this contract will likely be bad by year 3. I could see this going similar to the Cammalleri deal where he was bought out after the first 3 years. It is a bad decision if you are signing someone who isn't worth it in year 1 and is signed long-term.
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Zero points in 14 playoff game this past season. 3 points in 27 career playoff games.

Yeah let's bring in a guy like that, that will turn this thing around.
 
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RSeen said:
Zajac didn't have the same miles on him with the playoff runs or play a physical style either. They aren't good comparable IMO.
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We can't Miss Cleo this right now with a bunch of what ifs - Palat could play well all 5 yrs. Nemec could get 5 concussions in a row and never play a game (God I hope not). If you wanna play what if, then you (general you, not you you) will always find a reason to complain
 
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Ondrej Palat Contract, Cap Hit, Salary and Stats - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Ondrej Palat contract, salary, cap hit, salary cap, aav, career earnings, lifetime earnings, aav, advanced stats, transaction history, trade history, and rfa or ufa free agent status
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Considering the last 2 years have lower base salary than the cap hit, this contract looks it could be moved on from in year 4 or 5 to a rebuilder. Actually the first 2 years look like the only massive issue and he should be ok for us for those 2 years.
 
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A lot of people are writing in Sharangovich into a top 6 role but I wouldn't be surprised if Holtz and Mercer secure those spots and push him down to the 3rd line. Obviously they need to prove their worth it but two players with their draft pedigree and post draft results should be getting major NHL opportunities at this stage of their careers.
 
From the way it's structured and no NTC/NMC, they know it could backfire.

Says to me that they really like this specific player and they know the consequences of these kind of deals. I highly doubt this is a desperate win-now Fitzy "grit and jam" override of Dallow/Cane.
 
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jkrdevil said:
That Zubrus deal worked out…so I’m fine with that.
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The initial signing did.

The re-signing was bringing a guy back just to bring him back.

I’m not saying we should have let him walk, but 3 years at 35 years old for a player like him that was due to age pretty badly, that was just too much. And it’s not even like we had to match a contract because he made it to the UFA market like Salvador did a year before.
 
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